Garbage, EQ rate increases implemented in parish

Residents of the city of Lafayette and unincorporated parts of the parish are paying more in 2014 to have their garbage picked up and for other city-parish environmental division expenses.

A $1.41 rate hike became effective Nov. 1 with the start of the 2013-14 Lafayette Consolidated Government fiscal year.

Allied Waste instituted a 41-cent rate increase for solid-waste collection. The company has a contract with LCG to collect curbside garbage and yard waste from residents in the city and unincorporated parts of the parish.

The contract, originally signed in 2008 and extended without bids, allows for an annual rate adjustment based on the U.S. Consumer Price Index, said Dee Stanley, Chief Administrative Officer.

“There’s a CPI rider in the contract. It’s adjusted at the end of every calendar year,” Stanley said.

The rider was included in the contract because Allied Waste has a long-term contract with LCG and “five years later, you don’t know what the market is going to be,” he said.

The increase also includes $1 more per month for the LCG Environmental Quality Division within Public Works, said Mark Pope, EQ administrator. The recycling fee has not changed.

“We’re an enterprise fund. We don’t use general fund monies,” Pope said.

The Environmental Quality Division has a $200,000 to $300,000 deficit. Money generated by the $1 rate increase will help cover operations and maintenance costs, including supplies, salaries and capital expenses, like equipment for the compost facility, Pope said.

The $1 increase was approved by the City-Parish Council with the 2013-14 budget, he said.

City-Parish Councilman William Theriot told The Daily Advertiser on Friday that he received four calls from residents of unincorporated parts of the parish complaining about the fee increase. Pope said his office also received several calls from residents of unincorporated Lafayette Parish.

Allied Waste bills those customers quarterly, so their hikes seem larger because they cover three months. In addition, the bills customers are receiving now include the retroactive rate hike for November and December, so the bills are actually for five months, Pope said.

The bills for unincorporated residents include an additional $2.05 for Allied Waste and an additional $2.05 for LCG’s Environmental Quality Division, for a total increase of $7.05 for services Nov. 1, 2013, through March 31, 2014.